Silver Night
by Pepper Rose
Summary: Pepper's school was attacked by newborn vampires and she was changed into one. How will she cope leaving her family behind? All OCs, at the moment. Please review! x
1. Attack

**Okay, I know everyone does things where the Cullens come into their life, but this has no Twilight characters (yet). All characters are mine (so far) but the whole vampire concept belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Read and review, please.**

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**Silver **

Slowly, silently, now the moon  
Walks the night in her silver shoon;  
This way, and that, she peers, and sees  
Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch  
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;  
Couched in his kennel, like a log,  
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep  
Of doves in silver feathered sleep  
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,  
With silver claws, and silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,  
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

**Walter de la Mare**

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It was a normal day. I woke up early for school and had breakfast with my Mum. My Dad was already at work and my little sister, Eva was still sleeping. She was so lucky she didn't have to get up so early to go to school.

The day started off normally, until we watched the news. There was reports of serial killers attacking schools all over England. Luckily, none of the schools near where I lived, in Warwick, had suffered from any of these attacks.

"Pepper, I don't want you to go to school if there are serial killers on the loose. It's not safe!"

My Mum was worried and she didn't want to send me to school that day. I phoned my friends, to see if they were going to school and most of them were. Some of them were using it as an excuse to get the day off and miss the Geography exam.

"Mum, all of my friends are going. It's fine. As if a serial killer is going to attack the small, quiet town of Warwick!" I scoffed.

Finally, I persuaded Mum to let me go. I hated being stuck around the house all day with nothing to do. I left and went to call on Emma and Laura, to walk to the bus stop. Emma had dark, shoulder-length hair, that hung straight and framed her pale face perfectly. Emma was a funny person. She would always think of fun things to do and would be making jokes, but today she was sullen.

Laura was normally very bubbly and her short brown curls bounced as she laughed. Today, she also was down. Emma and Laura must have been as worried as my Mum.

The bus stop was practically empty. Almost no-one was there. The young first years were there, buzzing with excitement to get to their new 'big' school, but nobody else was.

Emma and I went into the shop to buy some chocolate, which we would eat on the bus journey. On the newspaper rack, there were headlines all about the same thing. I picked one up and we started to read it.

_Serial Killers Attack Schools_

_All over the country, there have been reports of mass murderers wiping out whole schools in less than an hour. Police say it's a serial killer, others say it's more than one._

"_How could one person possibly kill thousands of school children in less than an hour? My guess is that there are people out there working together. The weird thing is how they killed the victims. They completely drained the bodies of blood and then they burnt the carcasses." PC Marks says._

_Each attack had a pattern. The attacks were always around two weeks apart. The killer or killers murdered every person inside the school gates, even the teachers. Every body that was found had bite marks, no blood left and was burnt to the extent that dental records were needed to identify the victims. For some cases, certain bodies were never found._

_The attackers always fled before the police could arrive at the scene, leaving them to clean up the bonfires they had started in the school fields. No trace of fingerprints have been found, so far, but investigators are searching the scenes for evidence._

I stopped reading then. I didn't want to know any more. What kind of monsters could kill thousands of school children and teachers in such a horrible way and just leave the corpses burning? It disgusted me.

What worried me was that the attacks were getting further and further south. First it was Scotland, then Cumbria, York. It would soon get down to the Midlands. I dismissed that nasty thought. The police would catch them before they could get any further.

At school, everyone was talking about the serial killers. Some were joking about it to others, while some were generally scared.

"It's going to get to us soon."

"I bet they'll choose to kill you first."

"I think I'll take the rest of the year off."

"Probably just a group of psychos who hate education."

"Apparently, they don't just attack schools. Factories and office blocks, too. Basically, anywhere that's got loads of people, all in an enclosed space."

"Definitely got a problem, though."

I ignored all the conversations about murderers and went to the library to study for the Geography exam, with Paige; neither of us had revised. Paige hates exams. She's one of those people who would rather chat for the whole lesson.

We were revising volcanoes and earthquakes, leaning over two huge revision guides. Paige leaned back on her chair, flipped her long mahogany hair over her shoulder and sighed.

"God, I wish someone would kill me right now, so I didn't have to sit this exam!" Paige complained.

"You shouldn't say things like that, Paige. You never know, the serial killers might decide to-"

"Stop! I don't want to hear another thing about those psychotic serial killers!" The librarian hushed us, as Paige shouted. "Sorry. Hey, this weekend we should do something. We should invite Lizzie, Laura and Vicki, too."

"Yeah, what like? Shopping?"

"Definitely! I really need to get some new shoes and there's a sale on in River Island. We need to buy Christmas presents, too." Paige gushed. Her favourite sport was shopping, typically.

Just then, the bell rang. Paige huffed and grabbed her revision guide. I followed her to the bag rack and we walked to Geography together.

The Geography exam was awful. Everything in there wasn't even in the revision books. To cheer us up, our English teacher, Miss Price, let us watch a movie, in our next lesson. Of course, everyone had brought in their own DVDs, to watch on the last couple of weeks. There was a vote, the majority chose _'Shaun of the Dead'_.

It was a zombie comedy. Pretty funny actually. The whole class was howling with laughter, mostly at the wrong parts. I couldn't help but think of the killers because the zombies were biting the victims and eating them alive. Reminded me too much of the attackers killing their victims in the

most disgusting way I could think of.

The bell rang, half way through a zombie killing scene. Miss Price told us to stand behind our desks and wait to be dismissed. Then, an ear-splitting scream rang down the corridor. Miss Price went to the door.

"Oh, those pesky first years! They're always acting up and getting over-excited." she muttered under her breath.

A dark-haired man suddenly appeared at the door frame. He was frighteningly beautiful, despite the fact that he was covered in blood. Screams erupted from around the room as he picked Miss Price up by her shoulders and bit into her neck. Blood spurted from her wound, over the desks. The door was blocked, so people smashed the windows, to escape.

This couldn't be happening. This was the serial killer, a vampire, a myth and he was killing my teacher. He moved onto Vicki, who was sat by the door, leaving poor Miss Price on the floor. Her skin had turned a ghostly blueish-white and she lay lifeless in the doorway.

Paige tugged on my arm, gesturing towards the window. Her lips were moving, but I could barely hear what she was saying, over all the screams. I felt dizzy and my head felt hot. For a moment all I could hear was my own heartbeat.

I felt someone pulling me by my shoulders. Cold air rushed into my face. I opened my eyes, we were by the window, Paige and me. I had fainted, but Paige had risked her life by staying in the room to save me.

"Come on! Pepper, wake up!" Paige urged.

"Just leave her! We're all going to die anyway!" another voice shouted.

I looked at Paige's tear-streamed face, mascara running down her rosy cheeks. I got up and smiled weakly. She smiled back and hugged me. I looked back at Laura and Lizzie and a scream sounded. Laura had been bitten. Lizzie panicked and fumbled around in her pockets, also screaming. She pulled out a stolen Stanley knife and ripped it across her wrists. She was distracting the monster, to save her best friend. It worked and the man's head whipped around, staring at her with crimson eyes. In a split second, he lunged at her and locked his jaw on her arm.

He was closer to Paige and I, now. We scrambled across the desks and reached the window. Outside, it was chaos; it looked like hell had broke loose. It looked like a scene from _'Shaun of the Dead'_, which was still playing, in the classroom.

Paige leaped nimbly, through the window. She turned and faced me, holding her hand out. We were going to make it out together. I took her hand and jumped through, catching my leg on the sharp glass that remained in the frame.

The vampire hurled himself at me, going straight for where the blood was gushing from my leg wound. He bit my left shin and I screamed so loud it hurt my ears. My whole leg was suddenly on fire. Flames licked their way through my blood stream, as he sucked me dry.

I was on the floor, writhing in pain, my left leg in the tight grip of the vampire. Paige stood beside me, shocked. On her face was a look of pure horror. She screamed and snapped a shard of glass from the broken window and pulled it from her shoulder own to her wrist. Only such a good friend could end her own life to save mine. She motioned for me to run, away from this havoc, to leave her to die, as the vampire that has destroyed my school killed her.

I complied with her dying wish and hobbled away, past corpses lying in the playgrounds. The burning was so fierce that I could have collapsed. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily, to breathe through the pain. It didn't work. The reason I limped forward was the face I saw behind my eyelids.

My best friend, tears running down her cheeks, mascara smudged all over her face. Eyes begging me to run, to save myself. Long mahogany hair, matted with her own blood, swept across the floor. A beautiful face, even in death.

I went round the corner, to the back of the school and I saw a figure leaning over a body. Another vampire, a woman with rich, burnt orange hair, tied back in a ponytail. The body didn't look cold, yet, but it was too late for whoever it was. I kept quiet and wrapped my school tie around my leg, to cover the blood. I didn't want Paige's efforts to have been wasted.

I proceeded towards the field, behind the school, heading for a rarely used barn that was owned by the farm at the back of the school. As I walked forward, I saw the face of the body that the redhead was killing. A pale face, framed by short dark hair. Emma.

I fought back the scream that would give me away, as I looked into her sad, green eyes. Next to her was the body of Jade, one of Emma's best friends. Jade's face was pale, her body limp, her brown dyed hair sprawled out on the concrete. I ran as fast as my burning leg would allow me.

The burning was excruciatingly painful. It had spread up my side and across my stomach. I fell down, into a crawl. It seemed like hours later that I reached the old, run down farm building, but I knew it couldn't have been.

The grass by the barn was longer. This area hadn't been used for years and it showed in the long, wild grass. I hid in the barn, leaning myself against a plank of wood that had fell away from the wall. The grass bent and made a soft bed for my dying body. This didn't matter because I was in so much pain that I wouldn't have noticed if I was lying on a bed of rocks.

My whole body was burning, the flames licking their way through my veins and I wished that I could have just been killed like everyone else. I wondered how long it would take to die this way, instead.

I heard things being thrown about, landing on top of each other with a thud. I hated to imagine what they were about to do. The crackling of flames seemed to be too far away, considering there was another bonfire going on, inside me. Soon, there were sirens. Police cars, fire engines and ambulances. The paramedics would hardly be useful if everyone was dead, already and who would the police arrest? The vampires, no doubt, had fled well before I had even heard the sirens.

I closed my eyes and hoped I could sleep. I would wake up and this would all be over. My friends would all be alive, my teachers, too. I tried to sleep, but how can you sleep when your on fire? I kept my eyes closed and tried to focus on happy memories, instead of the agonizing, flaming–

Eva's birthday was last month. I remembered her face lighting up as she opened her presents. Her face must have ached from all the smiling she did that day. We all went out for a meal, that evening, my Mum, Dad, Eva and I. How would they feel when they found out that I was dead?

The burning carried on for days. I've never went so long without eating, but I was afraid to move, in case someone found me. I wondered why I hadn't died yet. I thought that this was just a slower method of death; the pain was the same as when the vampire had bitten me, just intensified.

On what might have been the third day, the flames reached my heart. This was the most painful, most torturous feeling I had ever had. Death had to be near. I held my breath and waited. Soon I would reach Paige and Laura and Lizzie and Vicki, who had been waiting for me, for days.

For a moment, the happiness distracted me from my heart, which was thudding faster and faster, each second. My heart raced until it sounded like a humming bird flapping it's wings. My heart was flying. It stuttered twice and, with one resounding thud, it stopped.

I waited for the darkness to pull me under, or for the light to appear, beckoning me towards it, but none came. I lay there, waiting and nothing happened. My eyes were closed, I wasn't breathing and my heart had stopped, but I was still here. Was this heaven? Was I here? I opened my eyes slowly, not knowing what to expect.

It was still the same old barn: wooden walls broken, long grass growing, abandoned spider webs in the corners, but my vision had changed. I could see every dust particle floating in the air. The sun shone through a crack in the ceiling and I could pick out each colour of the spectrum, including a new eighth colour.

My hearing had also improved. I could hear the ants marching beneath me; the spiders spinning their silky webs; birds chirping from trees. I could hear cars whizzing past on the motorway; the wheels of a bike, whizzing round; a woman talking on the television. I could hear everything.

So what was this afterlife? A place where you could keep living, but with improved senses? It didn't seem right, regarding my blood, that was dried into my tie. Some of my blood had leaked out of the makeshift bandage, onto the grass. Heaven didn't have blood, did it?

I realised that I still wasn't breathing. I wondered if my sense of smell was enhanced, as well. I decided to test that theory out and took one deep breath through my nose. My throat suddenly burned and ached with dryness. This wasn't as painful as the previous burning and it was a different kind of burn. _Thirsty,_ my brain connected.

Thirsty? I didn't understand. Then, I realised: I was a vampire.

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**So, what do you think? Review, please... You know you want to! Please? :)**


	2. Cottage

**Sorry about the wait. I've been busy. Anyway, here it is. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it! :)**

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I started to panic. A vampire? How? Why? Why did this have to happen to me? What do I do now? My family, my friends. Would they miss me? How would they deal with my death?

I couldn't go back home. I couldn't be around any humans. I knew I would just kill them all, like the monsters that killed me. I didn't want to be anything like them. They killed my friends and turned me into one of them. I wouldn't become a monster.

I stood up. It happened so quickly that I thought I might have been standing up already. It was as if I just had to think about doing something and it would happen. Very slowly, I reached for my blazer pocket. I searched around and picked out a pink pocket mirror.

I flipped it open, slowly, expecting to see nothing – vampires didn't have reflections, that was a commonly known fact. When it was open, I saw the most beautiful face that I could imagine. I was so shocked to see this that I wanted to scream. I couldn't, though; someone might find me. Instead, I gasped in horror and leaned back, onto the wooden walls of the barn.

This was not me. I did not look even half as beautiful as the reflection in the mirror. What had happened to me? This face that I looked at, was pale white. Her bottom lip was slightly too full to match the upper one. Her cheekbones were smooth and pronounced under her smooth, flawless skin. Her nose was perfectly straight, as if it had been sculpted by gods. I saved the eyes for last, knowing what I would see. I was right. Her eyes were bright red and I looked away in fear. Those eyes sent chills through my cold, dead body.

From what I had seen in the mirror, I hated what I had become even more. I knew that my new life would be consumed by killing humans. I did not want to be a killer, even though there was no way of stopping it. I would stop it, though. I would not be a killer. I was determined.

I stepped out of the barn, not wanting to be seen. As soon as I thought these words, I felt a coolness wash over me, as if I was covered in a cool gel. I ignored this and passed it off as a new vampire feeling.

I saw humans standing in the school field, around a pile of charcoal bodies. There were parents, crying at the loss of their children. I saw my Mum and Dad talking to a police woman. I could hear their conversation with my new sharp hearing.

"I'm sorry, we weren't able to find the body of your child." The police woman apologised.

"Why? Where could she have gone? Have you checked everywhere?" Mum wailed.

"Yes, we've looked in every room. There was no-one else."

My Mum weeped into my Dad's shoulder. The police woman walked away and left them to their sorrow. It hurt me inside to see my loving parents crying over the my death, when I was only a hundred metres away from them. I wanted to run over and hug them, to tell them that I was okay, but I didn't want to hurt them and I wasn't sure of how much control I had over my thirst.

The wind blew a scent towards me. It smelled familiar, yet I did not recognise it. I went closer to where it smelled strongest. As I inhaled, I realised that it smelled similar to me. It was a sweet scent and I could smell tones of rose and lilly. I smelled more like vanilla and cinnamon, but still very sweet.

The scent seemed to be stronger as it went south, which meant that they were headed that way. I knew that this scent must have been one of the vampires that attacked my school. Near to that trail was another sweet scent. This one smelled like freesia and jasmine. Both of the trails were going South. I didn't want to run into them, so I turned to face North.

I ran past the school that was no longer mine. I ran away from my family, leaving my old life behind. I pushed up the speed and the scenery flew past me. I had always been quite fast, but my breathing slowed me down. I remembered that I didn't actually have to breathe, so I could run without interference.

I didn't know how long I had been running, but my phone vibrated in my pocket and I saw the time. It was almost five o'clock. It would be dark soon; in Winter, the days are shorter. The reason my phone was vibrating was because it was ringing. My parents were phoning me. I longed to answer, but it would raise their hopes that I would come back. I ignored the call.

I was still running while I looked at the screen of my phone. I only noticed this when the signal disappeared. I stopped running and looked around me. I was surrounded by countryside and everything had a hint of green. The ground was wet, like it had just been raining. It was twilight now, so it was very quiet. I recognised the place that I had reached. I was in the Lake District.

I had come here a few months ago, with my friend, Emma. We had been on holiday with her family. It was a very exciting and wet holiday, despite the fact that it was Summer when we went. I knew that there were many public footpaths here, up mountains and around lakes. I ran up a mountain that was far in the distance, one I knew was too dangerous for any human activity.

I settled on a fallen tree, in a forest, on the top of this mountain. A few hundred metres away, there was an unstable cliff edge, half of which had already fallen into the lake below. This forest was strangely peaceful. The floor was carpeted in ferns and wild-flowers. The trees were covered in soft, green moss.

The wind blew softly, through the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves. The forest had a wet, natural smell about it. I explored the forest, weaving in and out between trees. I came across another vampire scent, much further into the depths of the green trees. This one was fresh, only a few minutes old. It smelled like lavender and rosemary. I was curious so I followed it.

The scent led me through a small field, back into the forest and over a babbling stream. I saw more and more of this scenery, where I had planned to stay. It was beautiful and full of wildlife. There was many deer around, yet they all ran from me. I wondered what another vampire was doing here and if they had known I was here.

I followed the trail for another half an hour. It was dark, now. There were no clouds, yet there was no moon. A new moon. The stars were bright, however, too far away to provide any light for this planet. I didn't mind; I didn't need any light to see with my new vampire eyes.

As I followed the trail, I saw deer lying in my path. Why would a vampire have killed a deer? Surely, the blood from a deer would be insufficient. I disregarded it and continued along the trail. I noticed that it was getting weaker, which meant I was falling behind. I was walking at human speed because I was more comfortable with it. The vampire that I was following was obviously going faster.

I picked up my pace and the trail got stronger. I came across a mixture of many vampire scents, then. There were notes of honey, sage, hyacinth, lilac, honeysuckle and syrup, as well as lavender and rosemary. It was a very sweet mixture of scents and it was pleasing to me, although, I was confused at why so many vampires would be in one place, together.

I followed the mixture of sweet smells and they led me to a cosy cottage, snug in the entrance to a cave. The cottage had a brick path leading up to it and tulips lined the garden, which held freshly mown grass. The cottage looked old, with grey stone bricks and a slate tiled roof. Ivy crawled up the walls and around the small windows. The door was wooden and had a metal letterbox, halfway down. A chimney reached out of the roof, black smoke coming out of it and was almost as tall as the ceiling of the cave. There was no way into the cave, other than going through the house; the cottage filled the entrance.

I was wary about other vampires, but my curiosity got the better of me. The cottage was inviting and I wanted to go closer. Cautious, I crept up to the tiny wooden door. I raised my fist to knock and paused to listen. I heard a number of voices and tried to hear the individual whispers.

"I don't know why she's here. Why would anyone come so far away from humans?" A young male whispered in angry confusion.

"Maybe she just wanted to visit." A motherly sounding woman said.

"Visit? No-one knows that we're here." The male retorted.

"She's probably just passing through."

"Why would anyone be passing through such an obscure place?" A young female questioned.

"She might have caught the scent from the bottom and followed it." Another male suggested.

"She is here, you know." A new male voice said. There was a pause. "She is going to knock in about a minute."

Were they talking about me? How did they know that I was following them? Did they see me sitting on that log? From the different voices, I could tell that there were at least five vampires living in this cottage. Could there be more? I wanted to know the answers to my questions, so I decided to knock. I listened once more.

"Well, we don't want to frighten her away." The motherly woman said. "She's probably scared knowing that there are so many of us here."

I heard movement and then it was silent. Were they waiting for me to knock? I knocked twice on the dark, weathered wood. I waited for someone to open the door. I felt a sudden regret and fear. Should I really have knocked? There were so many of them, all together. They could easily harm me. They were all probably very powerful and civilised. They must be, to own a cottage and to keep a regular habitat.

Thinking of this, I was afraid. I wanted to run away, just in case they weren't friendly towards visitors. I wanted to hide behind a tree and watch what they did. I wanted so badly to not be seen. Again I felt this coolness come over me. It wasn't calming, but it reassured me. I still did not know what this feeling was or why it kept washing over me. It seemed to occur when I didn't want anyone to see me. I wondered why this happened. Was it just a common instinctual feeling for vampires?

Why was I so worried? Now that I had this cool gel feeling, I could think more clearly. They were discussing me, but not in a harsh way. It was more of a confused discussion about why I was here, not an angry one. Also, one woman seemed intent on not scaring me away. This must mean that she wanted me to stay. But why would she want me to stay with her? She sounded motherly, so maybe she just wanted to make sure I was okay. It seemed unlikely, but it was a possibility.

It had only been seconds since I had knocked on the door. My thought process was very quick, as was my running. The door opened slowly, at human pace. They mustn't have been being very careful, so as not to frighten me.

I still had the cool feeling over my body, so I was confident and I didn't feel the need to run. I still wanted to hide, but I was rooted into place by wonder. I still wanted to know how they knew I was here and why they were here, so I stayed put.

The door eventually opened wide enough for me to see inside. There was a staircase opposite me, a spotless kitchen, to the right and an inviting living room, to the left. The colour scheme was made up of golds and warm browns. It was inviting and felt like home. The warmth from the fire hit me like a wall of heat. It felt so good to be warm again, after being cold for so long and knowing that the rest of my life – no, existence – would be spent being cold.

In the doorway was a curvy, motherly looking woman. She was beautiful, like most vampires and she smiled. Her skin was pale white and smooth, contrasting to her rich mahogany hair, which fell in thick curls, past her shoulders. She was wearing indigo jeans and a brown cardigan. Her brow furrowed and her strange amber eyes searched her beautifully floral garden. She looked past me and began smelling around where I was standing.

"Russ?" She called in her honey voice. "She's gone."

She said this in evident disappointment, as if she was looking forward to meet me. I was confused and why she said that I was gone. I was here, wasn't I? Why was she looking and smelling for me, if I was standing right in front of her?

A tall man, with dark hair appeared next to her. He also had the same amber eyes as the woman. He was dressed simply in a white, casual shirt and jeans. He looked around in the same way that the woman had. I didn't know what they were doing. Was this how they treated all their visitors? That seemed unlikely. It was weird enough that they were doing it to me. The man stood straight and closed his eyes.

"No, Jen, she's here. We just can't see her." The man called Russ confirmed.

What did he mean? Why couldn't he see me? The woman, who Russ had called Jen, seemed to want to know the answers to these questions, too.

"What? What do you mean 'we can't see her'?" Jen was frowning up at him, disbelievingly.

"She is right here. We can't see here because she has a visual shield."

"Do you mean that she is shielding us from seeing her?"

"Exactly."

"You can come out. We won't hurt you. It's okay." Jen raised her voice, thinking that I was far away, not in the doorway.

She sounded genuine, which made me feel okay about being seen. But how do I get rid of my 'visual shield'? How do I put it down and let people see me? This coolness that I kept feeling must be what my shield feels like. When the shield came up, I didn't want anyone to see me; I wanted to hide. Maybe, if I concentrated, I could convince myself to not want to hide. This might work, so I decided to try it.

I wanted to go into that warm house. I wanted to meet all the other people. This woman, Jen, who looked so loving and kind, really wanted to meet me. She was disappointed that I was unsure about being seen. She must have felt hurt when she learned that I didn't want her to see me. I looked into the amber eyes of this pair. I saw the kindness in them and I wanted to please them. If letting me be seen was what it takes to please them, then I would.

I felt the cool gel slowly washing off me. It appeared to have been laid on quite thickly. I must have been very cautious about meeting these people who seemed so good-hearted. I looked into their eyes and saw them fill with delight as I appeared, in front of them.

"Hello, dear. My name is Jen." Jen stepped forwards, coming closer to me. Her arms were stretched out and I realised that she was going to give me a hug. I leaned slightly towards her and returned the gesture.

"I'm Russ." The tall man announced in a deep voice.

"We're so glad you came to visit us." Jen gushed. "Come inside! You have to meet everyone."

Jen caught my hand and dragged me into the warm, comforting house.

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**Okay, I hope you liked it! Please review! **


	3. The Cave

**A very short wait for this chapter! I was loaded with inspiration. :) This chapter is slightly shorter than the rest, but it's a nice chapter. Read and review please! :)**

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Jen took me into the living room, to the left, with Russ following behind. All the doors in this cottage were wooden and had a latch. The ceilings were low and had wooden beams running along them. When I went into the room, I looked around. To my left, was one light gold sofa and there was another at the opposite end of the room. The carpet was light beige and was soft under my shoes. There was a fireplace burning brightly, lighting up the whole room. A brown rug lay in front of the fireplace. At the back of the living room, there were some French doors. They led out into darkness. The walls were gold, with family photographs hanging up. The photographs were not of vampires, they were of humans. They must have been the families that these vampires used to have.

I looked around again, this time taking in the people who were in the room, waiting to meet me. Sat on the sofa to the right was a young couple, who looked about seventeen. The girl was tall and thin, she had long, straight golden brown hair that ran down her back. Next to her, was a dark haired boy. He looked well built, for a seventeen year old and he was also very tall.

Across the room, on the other sofa, was another couple. They looked about the same age as the other couple, but maybe a bit younger. The girl was quite short, maybe a little taller than me and she had caramel coloured hair that spiralled towards her shoulders. Her fringe was straightened and swept across her forehead. A boy had his arm around this girl. This boy wasn't as muscular as the boy across the room. He had short, dirty blonde hair and he was only slightly taller than the girl sat next to him.

On the brown rug, in front of the fire, was another boy. He looked younger than the rest, by far. He looked closer to my age, but he was probably a bit older. He was lounging on the rug, in the heat of the fire. He had dark hair and was likely to be taller than me. He was gazing into the fire, uninterested by my introduction. This contrasted with the others, who were staring at me expectantly.

I looked at Jen, who was standing by the wall, smiling at me. Russ came in from behind me and went to stand in between Jen and a conspicuous black grand piano, which I hadn't noticed. My mouth dropped open in awe at this stunning piano. I used to play piano, but I had given up because I was terrible. I could play a few pieces, but I never stuck to it.

I turned my sight towards the boy sat on the rug. He was still gazing into the fire, but then he turned and looked at me. He had the same amber eyes as the rest of the coven, but his had a strange depth to them, which made me unable to look away. He looked intently at me and smiled. I was embarrassed to have been caught staring at him. Again, I felt the coolness wash over me, but this time I knew what it was.

The vampires who hadn't seen me do this before were alarmed. Their eyes widened as they searched for me in the spot where I was standing. Jen looked at where she guessed my eyes were. She smiled comfortingly, knowing why I had become invisible. She turned to the rest of the group and assured them that I had not ran away.

"Don't worry, she hasn't ran away. She's just a bit nervous, that's all. She's a bit shy, so you should all do your best to welcome her." Jen looked at me. "It's okay. You can show yourself. We won't hurt you."

I let myself be seen again and watched as everyone relaxed, thankful to be able to see where I was. Jen smiled in triumph.

"Everyone, this is... I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Jen said.

I found my voice and squeaked, "Pepper."

This was the first time that I had spoken, since I had become a vampire. My voice surprised me. It was so sweet that it sounded like honey or like bells ringing. I had never heard my voice sound like this and I got the same feeling that I had, when I first saw my reflection.

"Everyone, this is Pepper." Jen announced. "Pepper, this is Steph and Kyle," she continued, pointing towards the blonde girl and the dark haired boy. "Brooke and Ryan," Jen gestured towards the other couple. "And this is Alex." Alex was the boy who was sat on the rug.

"Hi, Pepper." Steph said. Steph and Kyle waved. I smiled back.

Brooke leaped off the far sofa and bounded across the room. She stopped in front of me.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you, Pepper." Brooke gave me a hug, without hesitation.

Ryan had followed Brooke, but at a more casual pace. He appeared behind her and smiled at me. Alex stood up and walked towards the small gathering. He was smiling at me, but not in the sympathetic, assuring way that the others had. He was looking at me like we were old friends and we were meeting again, for the first time in a very long time.

"Hi." Alex said in a deep velvet voice. I realised that my mouth was hanging open again and I snapped it shut. Alex laughed and it was the most beautiful music I had ever heard.

"Do you think you'll be staying with us, or do you have somewhere else to go?" Jen said, sounding more upbeat in the first part of her question.

I didn't have anywhere in particular to go. In fact, I had nowhere to go. I didn't have a family, a home or a school, any-more. I had no-one. Everyone was waiting for me to answer, so I opened my mouth to speak.

"No, I haven't got anywhere to go." I sounded upset. I was. I had nothing else left in this life.

"That's okay. You can stay with us. Do you want to? We haven't got a spare room upstairs, though..." Jen said, realising that she hadn't got anywhere for me, either.

"She can put her stuff in my room. We don't sleep, so it wouldn't really be a problem." Alex suggested.

"Would you like to do that, Pepper?" Jen asked me.

"Okay, if that's alright with you." I said shyly.

"Of course, it's fine. We'd love to have you in the family!" Brooke enthused. I smiled at the word family.

"Welcome to the family, Pepper." Jen said, smiling.

They each gave me a hug, the way a brother or sister would, but Alex's hug was more intimate. I relaxed when Alex hugged me; I felt a connection there, like he was someone I would be able to talk to.

Jen showed me around the cottage, my new home. It sounded nice to have somewhere to call home, people to call family. This was my new life, my new home and my new family.

We went back into the room where the staircase and the front door was and we went into the room on the right. This was the kitchen. It had wooden cupboards and oak worktops. The floor had terracotta tiles and, in the other half of the room, was a rectangular oak dining table. This room was spotless, like it had never been used. There was another set of French doors on the back wall of the dining area, also going outside. I tried to see what was out there, but it was dark. Even with my vampire sight, I could just see darkness. Jen saw me looking outside and said she would show me outside later.

Upstairs, there were four bedrooms, a study and an unused bathroom. One bedroom was small and cosy. There was a brown sofa, a beige double bed, a bookcase and a plasma screen TV. The next bedroom had a gold sofa, a light gold double bed, a computer and a TV that was mounted on the wall. The third bedroom had a beige sofa, a brown, neutral coloured double bed and a walk-in wardrobe. The last bedroom was smaller and there was no bed. There was a light gold sofa, a bookcase, a wall-mounted plasma TV and two bookcases full of CDs. A CD player sat on a small table, in the corner of the room. Of all the rooms available, I preferred this one.

"This is Alex's room. It is now yours, too." Jen declared. "I hope you don't mind sharing."

"It's fine. I don't mind at all." I smiled at Alex, who had been on the tour with me and Jen. He smiled warmly back at me.

The tour was almost over, but Jen had yet to show me outside the back of the cottage. She was very excited to show me whatever was out there. I remembered from earlier that the cottage was in the opening of a cave.

"I have to show you the back garden. It's everyone's favourite bit!" Jen said excitedly.

Jen led me back down the stairs and through the living room. Alex followed as she dragged me through the French doors. When I was outside, I could see that the darkness was the far wall of the back of the cave. There were thousands of wild-flowers all around me, somehow growing in this dark cave. A path of stone led me down towards a stream that was gushing along the back side of the cave.

"Come on, let me show you the rest." Alex said, taking my hand.

He took me through a tiny archway that was barely big enough for him to stand straight in. It was a little tunnel that curved around, heading further back than the far wall of the cave. I noticed that Jen had gone back into the house. The archway tunnel ended and we were in a small clearing. The edge of a cliff was several metres away. Fir trees stood at each side of the clearing, leaving an open view to the lake below us.

There were stars in the sky, twinkling down on us. The lake was vast and the dark night sky reflected in it's clear waters. Alex sat down at the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling off the side. I followed suit and sat down next to him. He was looking thoughtfully into the sky, admiring the beauty of the night. He turned his head and looked into my eyes and I felt my shield come over me again. He reached over to where my hand was and placed his hand over it. I immediately let my shield drop and looked back into his eyes.

His eyes were deep and amber, a sort of orangey gold. He gazed back into my eyes. I looked down and let my hair fall across my face, remembering that my eyes were bright red and chilling. I didn't want him to see my eyes, considering the reaction that I had to them, when I saw them. He gently lifted my chin up and smiled, looking into my frightful eyes and showing no sign of disgust. I smiled warmly back at him, knowing that everything was going to be alright.

He let go of my chin and looked out at the dark, mysterious lake. I shifted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. He put his arm around me and moved me even closer. I wanted to stay this way forever.

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**Did you like it? I had even more fun writing this chapter, than I did with the last! :) Please review! It really encourages me, when people respond to my work! :)**


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